updated 06:55 pm EST, Mon November 22, 2010

Google insists Chrome OS due 2010 but no hardware

Google today dropped hints that the delay of Chrome OS hardware might still have a limited, software-only release in 2010. The company said it still planned a public release this year. The company was "not going into details at this point" as to what that meant, a representative told TechCrunch.

A beta version is considered the most likely prospect, since both the list of bugs stopping a beta and a follow-up of nominated 'showstopper' bugs have shrunk to a small number. Google had previously remarked that a pre-release build was arriving this year.

Regardless, the delays keep Google out of the full OS market until at least 2011 for most users. While Chrome OS can technically run on a number of platforms, Google designed the almost exclusively web-focused platform to run with certain hardware, such as that common to netbooks. The release is eventually expected to have Google intensify competition with Apple and Microsoft as would be making both desktop and mobile operating systems.

Hmmm....

This is starting to sound like a lost project...like it's never going to really find its mark in the technology world. Similar to how the MS's TabletPC turned out...never quite finding a large enough audience while also being undercut by delays and dropped features.

Fragmented Android, delayed tablet OS, Google TV debacle, and now Chrome delays...am I sensing that Google is starting to show cracks & limits in their capabilities?!!

I do not know, but...

I just do not believe very much on an OS that works mainly, if not only, online. If my connection fails or lost what will happen to the apps? With our actual 2010/2011 communication technology, I think their efforts could be a lost cause.

Or maybe I am wrong and they will surprise us all with something revolutionary that actually works and is practical. Anyway Google is like Apple a very imaginative and creative company, like it or not.

I am curious to see their final product. If they leave the Beta somewhere in time. :-)